U.S. Department of Education

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Washington, D.C. 20202-2800

2011 APPLICATION KIT FOR NEW GRANTS
UNDER

THE REHABILITATION SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
TRAINING PROGRAM

Rehabilitation Training:
Rehabilitation Long-Term Training

CFDA 84.129 B, L, P and Q


FORM APPROVED

OMB No. 1820-0018, EXP. DATE: 06/30/2013

ED FORM 424, OMB APPROVED

DATED MATERIAL - OPEN IMMEDIATELY

CLOSING DATE:

JUNE 6, 2011

Contents

SUBJECTSECTION

Dear Applicant Letter...... A

Training Programs Unit: Competition Manager...... B

Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards...... C

Title III of the Rehabilitation Act and Associated Regulations...... D

Selection Criteria for Applications...... E

Application Transmittal Instructions...... F

Application Abstract Instructions...... G

Application Forms...... H

Part I:Federal Assistance Face Page (SF-424)

Part II:Budget Information (ED 524)

Part III:Program Narrative

Part IV:Assurances, Certifications, Disclosures:

  • Assurances - Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B);
  • Certification Regarding Lobbying: Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements;
  • Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL); and
  • Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants

Important Notices/Information...... I

  • Notice Regarding Submission of Training Materials to the National Clearinghouse
  • Notice to All Applicants, Section 427 of the General EducationProvisions Act (GEPA)
  • The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA)
  • Executive Order 12372 (Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs)
  • State Single Points of Contact

Applicant Checklist...... J

  • Common Questions and Answers
  • Program Application Indirect Cost Instructions
  • D-U-N-S Number Instructions
  • Grant Application Receipt Acknowledgement
  • Grant and Contract Funding Information

1

SECTION A

Dear Applicant Letter

Rehabilitation Services Administration

Dear Applicant,

The Secretary invites applications under the Rehabilitation Long-term Training Program. Please take a few moments to read this letter carefully as it includes important information related to the grant competition.

The purpose of the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program is to support projects that provide training, traineeships, and related activities, including the provision of technical assistance, to assist in increasing the numbers of qualified personnel trained in providing vocational, medical, social, and psychological rehabilitation services, and other services provided by the Rehabilitation Act, to individuals with disabilities. Projects funded under the present competition mustprovide basic or advanced training leading to an academic degree or academic certificate in the long-term training fields announced on the cover of this kit.

If you do not adhere to the specifications outlined in this application package, your application will be disqualified. Please be sure your application addresses each specification appropriately:

The maximum funding levels contained in Section C of this application kit are strictly enforced. Failure to adhere to them will result in rejection of your application.

Part III of the application narrative is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria used by reviewers in evaluating the application. The applicant must limit Part III to the equivalent of no more than 45 pages, using the following standards:

(1)A “page” is 8.5” x 11” on one side only with 1” margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.

(2)You must double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.

(3)Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch).

(4)Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New, or Arial.

The page limit applies to Part III of your application, the Program Narrative. If your narrative exceeds 45 pages and/or does not follow the page configurations, including font and spacing specifications outlined in this letter, your application will be rejected.

If, in order to meet the page limit, you use print size, spacing, or margins smaller than the standards specified in this notice, the Secretary will not consider your application for funding.

Please note that peer reviewers are instructed that appendix material is considered supplemental material to support or show evidence supporting statements made in the narrative and that they are not required to review such material. (They are neither requested nor expected to consider appendix material in rating applications.)

We wish to call your attention to the following important programmatic provisions:

A minimum of 75% of project funds must be used for scholarships and stipends to students. While waivers may be requested, RSA policy is to grant waivers only to applicants that have never had an RSA training grant, and then, only for the first project year.

Grants may only support programs that provide recognized academic degrees or academic certificates to their graduates. When an accrediting body exists (such as CORE), the program must either be accredited or in the process of applying for accreditation. Certificates of completion do not qualify as academic certificates, nor do programs that are based on continuing education units (CEUs).

Applicants must demonstrate how the training they plan to provide will prepare rehabilitation professionals to address the needs of individuals with disabilities from minority backgrounds.

Applicants must include a detailed description of strategies that will be utilized to increase the pool of individuals so as to reflect the diverse populations of the United States available for consideration for positions in rehabilitation services as part of the effort to increase the number of individuals with disabilities, and individuals who are from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds, who are available to provide rehabilitation services. Applications lacking this information will not be reviewed.

  • Per the Adarand decision (Adarand Constructors, Inc. V. Pena 515 U.S. 200), the Department of Education does not allow the selection of staff or program participantson the basis of race or national origin/ethnicity. For this reason, applicants must ensure that any discussion of hiring or program participation distinguishes between increasing the pool of applicants and actually selecting staff or participants, based on race or national origin/ethnicity, for the program. You should include an assurance in your abstract; please see Section G for details on what should be included in your project abstract.
  • Cost-sharing of at least ten percent of the total cost of the project is required of grantees under the Rehabilitation Training Program.
  • In addition, under 34 CFR 75.562(c), indirect cost reimbursement on a training grant is limited to the recipient’s actual indirect costs, as determined by its negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, or eight percent of a modified total direct cost base, whichever amount is less.
  • There is an invitational priority and a competitive preference priority for this competition. If applicants wish to be considered under one of these priorities, they should clearly articulate in their project narrative how they are addressing either, or both, of these priorities.

In addition, there are several features of this competition that we wish to bring to your attention. The 1998 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, include three special requirements for all applicants under the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program. Each of these must be explicitly addressed in your application. Applications that do not include the following information will not be funded:

(A)a description of how the designated state unit or units will participate in the project to be funded under the grant or contract, including, as appropriate, participation on advisory committees, as practicum sites, in curriculum development, and in other ways so as to build closer relationships between the applicant and the designated state unit and to encourage students to pursue careers in public vocational rehabilitation programs;

(B)the identification of potential employers that provide employment that meets the payback requirements of the Rehabilitation Act (see next paragraph); and

(C)an assurance that data on the employment of graduates or trainees who participate in the project is accurate.

Students who receive scholarship support (called RSA scholars) under Long-Term Training program grants are expected to “pay back” their support through paid employment within the public rehabilitation system or with other nonprofit rehabilitation or related agencies. RSA scholars must be fully informed about their pay back obligations and other requirements before they receive scholarship funds. They must also sign a written payback agreement before they receive funds. Details of payback are described in section D in the program regulations at 34 CFR 386.32-35, and 386.40-43. Please read the requirements carefully.

All applicants in this competition should budget for a project director’s orientation to be held in Washington, DC in October 2011(tentative). This meeting is usually held in conjunction with the National Rehabilitation Education Conference (jointly sponsored by RSA, the National Council on Rehabilitation Education and The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation). Grantees are encouraged to attend the National Rehabilitation Education Conference annually and may use project funds for this purpose.

Applicants for new projects in response to this announcement should become familiar with the selection criteria contained in this application kit (see Section E). These criteria will be used by reviewers and RSA staff to evaluate all applications.

Your application should respond to each identified criterion, since failure to do so will put your application at a significant disadvantage. Your narrative should clearly identify and address each of the selection criteria in the order they appear in the application package.

Reviewers of applications report that an application written in a format that follows the peer review criteria and contains a separate budget section greatly facilitates the review process. Such a format would appear as follows:

SECTION A:Application face page

SECTION B:Budget pages/budget narrative

SECTION C:Abstract (one page and must follow the exact specifications outlined for the abstract, see Section G)

SECTION D:Narrative (not to exceed 45 pages):

  • Relevance to State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program
  • Nature and Scope of Curriculum
  • Quality of Project Services
  • Quality of the Management Plan
  • Quality of the Project Evaluation
  • Quality of Project Personnel
  • Adequacy of Resources

SECTION E:Appendices (assurances/certifications, one-page resumes, bibliography, letters of support, etc.)

The project abstract is a one-page project description (see Section G) that must contain the following information:

1)The applicant’s name (institution), the city and state where the school is located and the Congressional District.

2)State the project director’s name, title and percentage she/he will dedicate to this project. NOTE: project directors who oversee multiple federal grants are prohibited from reporting more than 100% of their time overseeing federal projects.

3)The applicant must include an assurance in the abstract that they will not select or admit students nor provide scholarships solely on the basis of their race, ethnicity or national origin.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS (EDGAR)

Rehabilitation Training Program grants are subject to the requirements of the Education

Department General Administrative Regulations at 34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, and 99. These regulations set forth all general rules affecting application submittal, review, grant awarding, and post-award administration of Department of Education grant programs.

Rehabilitation training projects are subject to the requirements for “Intergovernmental Review of Department of Education Programs and Activities,” found in 34 CFR Part 79 of EDGAR. If your state has established a process for intergovernmental review, you must use that process. Applicants should review the material in Section I of this kit for information on the intergovernmental review process.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applicants for multi-year projects are required to provide detailed budget information for each of the five project years. Any application that exceeds in any way the maximum allowed amount for any year will be disqualified. The Department will determine at the time of the initial award, the funding levels for each year of the grant award. RSA requires annual performance reports, and uses those reports to determine progress and to make a decision as to whether or not to continue funding the project. These reports must be submitted to the designated RSA project officer.

GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted electronically using Grants.gov. Please read carefully the document that is included in Section F of this application kit, which includes helpful tips about submitting electronically using the Grants.gov site. When using the electronic grants process, it is imperative that you do not wait until the last minute to submit your grant. Please note that you must follow the Application Procedures as described in the Federal Register notice announcing this grant competition. Information (including dates and times) about how to submit your application electronically or by mail or hand delivery (if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement as described in the Federal Register notice for this program)can also be found in Section F of this application kit, Application Transmittal Instructions.

Applicants may contact RoseAnn Ashby, the competition manager, who may be reached at (202) 245-7258 or , to discuss any matters relating to this competition.

Your concern for the training of skilled rehabilitation personnel to serve persons with disabilities is appreciated.

Sincerely,

/s/

Thomas E. Finch, Ph.D.

Director, Training and Service

Programs Division

1

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ FIRST

U.S. Department of Education

Grants.gov Submission Procedures and Tips for Applicants

To facilitate your use of Grants.gov, this document includes important submission procedures you need to be aware of to ensure your application is received in a timely manner and accepted by the Department of Education.

ATTENTION – Adobe Forms and PDF Files Required

Applications submitted to Grants.gov for the Department of Education will be posted using Adobe forms. Therefore, applicants will need to download the latest version of Adobe reader (at least Adobe Reader 8.1.2). Information on computer and operating system compatibility with Adobe and links to download the latest version is available on Grants.gov. We strongly recommend that you review these details on before completing and submitting your application. In addition, applicants should submit their application a day or two in advance of the closing date as detailed below. Also, applicants are required to upload their attachments in .pdf format only. (See details below under “Attaching Files – Additional Tips.”) If you have any questions regarding this matter please email the Grants.gov Contact Center at or call 1-800-518-4726.

Also, applicants should be aware that on October 11, 2010, Grants.gov implemented a new security build which requires each organization’s e-Biz POC (Point of Contact) update their Grants.gov registration. To complete this step, the e-Biz POC must have their DUNS number and CCR MPIN. We recommend this step be completed several days before application submission unless the e-Biz POC has already responded to this requirement. For more information on this topic, please visit this Grants.gov information link:

REGISTER EARLY – Grants.gov registration may take five or more business days to complete. You may begin working on your application while completing the registration process, but you cannot submit an application until all of the Registration steps are complete. For detailed information on the Registration Steps, please go to: [Note: Your organization will need to update its Central Contractor Registry (CCR) registration annually.]

SUBMIT EARLY – We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last day to submit your application. Grants.gov will put a date/time stamp on your application and then process it after it is fully uploaded. The time it takes to upload an application will vary depending on a number of factors including the size of the application and the speed of your Internet connection, and the time it takes Grants.gov to process the application will vary as well. If Grants.gov rejects your application (see step three below), you will need to resubmit successfully before 4:30:00 p.m. Washington, DC time on the deadline date.

Note: To submit successfully, you must provide the DUNS number on your application that was used when you registered as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) on Grants.gov. This DUNS number is typically the same number used when your organization registered with the CCR (Central Contractor Registry). If you do not enter the same DUNS number on your application as the DUNS you registered with, Grants.gov will reject your application.

VERIFY SUBMISSION IS OK – You will want to verify that Grants.gov and the Department of Education receive your Grants.gov submission timely and that it was validated successfully. To see the date/time your application was received, login to Grants.gov and click on the Track My Application link. For a successful submission, the date/time received should be earlier than 4:30:00 p.m. Washington, DC time, on the deadline date, AND the application status should be: Validated, Received by Agency, or Agency Tracking Number Assigned.

If the date/time received is later than 4:30:00 p.m. Washington, D.C. time, on the deadline date, your application is late. If your application has a status of “Received” it is still awaiting validation by Grants.gov. Once validation is complete, the status will either change to “Validated” or “Rejected with Errors.” If the status is “Rejected with Errors,” your application has not been received successfully. Some of the reasons Grants.gov may reject an application can be found on the Grants.gov site: For more detailed information on troubleshooting Adobe errors, you can review the Adobe Reader Error Messages document at If you discover your application is late or has been rejected, please see the instructions below. Note: You will receive a series of confirmations both online and via e-mail about the status of your application. Please do not rely solely on e-mail to confirm whether your application has been received timely and validated successfully.